Nainital With Family — Cold Weather, Lake Views & Way Too Much Food

The journey

Family trips are honestly a completely different genre of travelling. 😭

There's no "We'll figure it out when we get there."

There's a proper plan.

Someone has packed medicines for every possible situation, somebody has brought enough snacks to survive for a week, and before you've even left home, someone is already asking:

"Sabka luggage aa gaya na?"

And that's basically how our Nainital family trip started.

The drive towards Nainital was beautiful. As soon as the plains disappeared and the mountain roads started, everyone suddenly became more interested in looking outside the window. We stopped midway for chai and parathas, which was supposed to be a quick break but obviously turned into a proper breakfast.

When we finally reached Nainital and saw Naini Lake surrounded by those green hills and colourful buildings, it immediately felt worth the long drive.

Our hotel was close to the lake, so after checking in, we went straight towards **Mall Road**.

And this is where the family-trip shopping officially began.

The plan was just to "walk around."

Nobody in an Indian family has ever *just walked around* a market. 😭

Within an hour there were shopping bags, woollens, candles, souvenirs and snacks that apparently we "don't get back home."

The next morning we went boating on **Naini Lake**, and honestly, it was one of my favourite parts of the trip. The weather was perfect, the water was calm and the entire town looked beautiful from the middle of the lake.

Naturally, everyone wanted photographs.

One normal family picture somehow required multiple attempts because somebody was looking away, someone had their eyes closed, and someone was giving instructions to the person clicking it.

Very peaceful experience. 😂

We also took the ropeway up towards Snow View Point, and the mountain views from there were gorgeous. My parents were enjoying the scenery while I was obviously busy trying to get pictures before the clouds decided to cover everything.

One afternoon we drove towards Bhimtal and Sattal, and honestly, I'm so glad we did. They felt quieter than central Nainital, and we spent a good amount of time simply sitting near the water, having chai and enjoying the weather.

But evenings in Nainital were probably my favourite.

We'd walk along Mall Road with jackets on, stop somewhere for hot momos or coffee, buy roasted corn from roadside stalls and slowly make our way back to the hotel.

There was no rush.

And that's what made it nice.

One night we all ended up sitting together in the hotel room after dinner. Someone brought out snacks, old family stories started coming up, and suddenly everyone was laughing about things that happened years ago.

Those moments honestly become my favourite part of family trips.

Because yes, Nainital was beautiful.

The lake was beautiful.

The mountains were beautiful.

But getting a few days where the entire family was together, away from everyone's normal routines, was probably the best part.

Would we still argue about where to eat?

Obviously.

Would someone still ask every ten minutes whether everyone has their phone and wallet?

Absolutely.

Would I do another family trip tomorrow?

100%. 🤍